Financial Discount

Model a conditional early-payment discount (korting contant) on a Peppol document using a matching allowance and charge so that the payable amount stays the full amount due.

This guide shows how to apply a financial discount — also called an early-payment discount, or korting contant in Dutch — on a Peppol document sent through the Recommand JSON API.

A financial discount differs from a regular document-level discount because it is conditional: it only applies when the customer pays within an agreed period. The invoice must still show the full amount due when the discount is not taken.

Principles

A financial discount is conditional: it only applies when the customer pays within the agreed period.
The invoice VAT is calculated on the discounted amount.
The invoice should still show the full amount due when the discount is not taken.
In UBL/Peppol, that is modeled with a document-level allowance for the discount and a matching document-level charge for the non-discounted amount.

Rules

Use a document-level allowance for the financial discount and a matching document-level charge to keep the payable amount unchanged.
As the balancing charge uses VAT category E (exempt), include document.vat.exemptionReason or document.vat.exemptionReasonCode.

Why two entries?

The allowance reduces the VAT base (so VAT is calculated on the discounted amount), while the matching charge (at VAT category E — exempt) keeps the payable total equal to the full amount due. This way, the customer pays the reduced amount only when they pay within the discount period, and the full amount otherwise.

Example

Given a single line of 1000.00 EUR at 21% VAT and a 100.00 EUR financial discount for payment within one week:

Field	Amount (EUR)
Line amount	1000.00
Financial discount allowance	-100.00
VAT base	900.00
VAT (21%)	189.00
Balancing charge (vat exempt)	100.00
Total payable if the discount is not taken	1189.00
Total payable if the discount is taken	1089.00

The invoice total shows the full amount due when the discount is not taken. In the invoice payment terms, explain that when the discount is taken, the total payable amount is 1089,00 EUR.

Minimal Send Document JSON

The following is a minimal example of a send document request payload for a financial discount that can be sent through the Recommand Send Document JSON API.

{
  "recipient": "0208:1012081766",
  "documentType": "invoice",
  "document": {
    "invoiceNumber": "FIN-DISCOUNT-001",
    "buyer": {
      "name": "Example Customer",
      "street": "Kerkstraat 1",
      "city": "Hasselt",
      "postalZone": "3500",
      "country": "BE"
    },
    "paymentTerms": {
      "note": "Financial discount of 100,00 EUR for payment within 1 week. When paying within 1 week, the total payable amount is 1089,00 EUR. Otherwise, the total payable amount is 1189,00 EUR."
    },
    "lines": [
      {
        "name": "Example Product",
        "quantity": "1",
        "netPriceAmount": "1000.00",
        "vat": {
          "category": "S",
          "percentage": "21.00"
        }
      }
    ],
    "discounts": [
      {
        "reason": "Financial discount of 100,00 EUR for payment within 1 week.",
        "amount": "100.00",
        "vat": {
          "category": "S",
          "percentage": "21.00"
        }
      }
    ],
    "surcharges": [
      {
        "reason": "Financial discount balancing charge",
        "amount": "100.00",
        "vat": {
          "category": "E",
          "percentage": "0.00"
        }
      }
    ],
    "vat": {
      "exemptionReason": "Financial discount"
    }
  }
}

Discounts & Surcharges

General guide to document-level and line-level discounts and surcharges.

API Reference

Full reference for the send document endpoint.